Caskets of Pearls Vol. 2 - Casket of Pearls 73

Casket of Pearls 73

Tags: Ta'wil, Furqan, World of Imagination, Da`i, Summoner

Q721 The word 'ta'wil' occurs 17 times in the holy Qur'an. Please tell us what is ta'wil. And whenever it comes, how does it do so?
A721

The literal analysis of ta'wil is given in dictionaries, therefore here I will only describe its nature (mahiyyah). When an `arif begins to undergo a personal and spiritual qiyamat then this is the beginning of the coming of ta'wil to him.
In the personal world qiyamat in its entirety is itself ta'wil, and consists of the secrets of the heavenly book.
Qiyamat and ta'wil are certainly with every Imam (May peace be through him), but it becomes more and more necessary when the circumstances of time change as is the case with the present time.

Q722 Are there other words in which there is also the meaning of ta'wil? If so, what are they?
A722

Yes indeed, there are many such synonyms and we note only some of them here: wisdom, esoteric, spirituality, luminosity, insight, observations (mushahadah), certainty, recognition, vision, meeting (liqa'), explanation (bayan) and witness.
Personal world, Sacred Sanctuary, knowledge of soul, knowledge of names, knowledge of the realities of things, knowledge of qiyamat, knowledge of the hereafter, knowledge of secrets, etc.
Some of the synonyms are according to the dictionaries, but those which are from the point of view of wisdom are very amazing.

Q723 Among the exalted and wisdom-filled words of the wise Qur'an, one blessed word is 'al-Furqan', which is mentioned seven times. There is no doubt that 'al-Furqan' is mentioned in the sense of great miracles. Now look at Surah-yi Anfal (8:29): "O you who believe! If you safeguard yourselves against evil with full awareness of Allah's laws, He will grant you 'al-Furqan' (a criterion to distinguish between right and wrong) and wipe off from you your evils and forgive you; and Allah is the Lord of mighty grace." Please tell us what is the meaning of 'al-Furqan' here? Is it the light of guidance or the path of spirituality or the miracle of knowledge and wisdom?
A723

[In the light of] the profound wisdom of which you are aware, in this verse 'al-Furqan' means the light of guidance, the miraculous touchstone of which works stage by stage.
Furqan = light of guidance, which separates truth from falsehood and leads one on the Straight Path, therefore its miracle is in degrees.

Q724 It is a very good explanation that the miracle of the light of guidance, that is, Furqan works in degrees for the righteous, just like a luminous ladder the upper end of which is joined to the Sacred Sanctuary. It is therefore necessary to ask if this miracle (Furqan) is not really the miracle of the revealed light and the manifest book (5:15)?
A724

It is indeed absolutely true that it is the same light of guidance and the Qur'an. It is because of this fact that it is called the Furqan, as the inner oneness of the light and the Qur'an is also called Furqan.
From the above point it becomes clear that there is a lack of God-fearing to a great extent [among believers], otherwise the miracle of the light and the Qur'an (i.e., Furqan) is not far away.

Q725 In verse (18:54) the wise Qur'an states: "And indeed We have displayed for humankind in this Qur'an every kind of similitude, but man is in most things, contentious." (see also 17:89). This means that the final and the most sublime reality is one, but its examples are given in many diverse ways. Please tell us what that reality is? How can that one reality be hidden in every similitude?
A725

Perhaps no one will disagree with the statement that the purpose for which human beings are sent to this world is [to gain] recognition (ma`rifat) and so all the similitudes are in connection with this.
There is an abundance of knowledge and wisdom in the plenitude of similitudes, but their final essence is the same, in which one reality shines forth and that is indeed recognition.

Q726 How can the diverse examples in the holy Qur'an have one meaning?
A726 Allah is al-qabiz as well as al-basit, therefore when He enfolds all the examples in the Sacred Sanctuary they become nothing but ma`rifat because of their essence and when He spreads them in the Qur'an, they unfold into diverse examples.

Q727 Allah, the exalted has blessed human beings with countless favours. In His infinite mercy and generosity He has made human beings the masters of four worlds: the world of wakefulness, the world of imagination, the world of dreams and the world of spirituality. What is your view about this?
A727

This is very true and it is what I too believe. Due to its special characteristics the world of wakefulness has its own glory and is a universe of limitless and countless physical bounties.
Until now too many people have not paid much attention to the wonders and marvels of the world of imagination. At the very least the speed of imagination should have been reflected upon, since compared to it the speed of lightning is nothing! In sha'a'llah, we will tell you what the secret in it is.

Q728 Please explain the above points in greater detail.
A728

After reaching the stage of perfection, the power of imagination in human beings is a great jinn or a strong angel. Tomorrow, in the world of spirituality the angel of khayal (imagination) will work with tremendous speed for you.
The power of imagination is an angel and a great universe from amongst the living miracles of Allah and is present in front of you with every physical and spiritual bounty.
In the same way, the world of dreams too is a living world of marvels and wonders and as for spirituality in this world, it is "paradise for the sake of recognition".

Q729 Who is the da`i of qiyamat? Is it Allah Himself? Or Israfil? The light of the Prophet? The light of the Imam? Or other hudud-i din?
A729 Allah is the real King and He only gives commands for every work [to be done]. Israfil is the guardian angel of the invitation to qiyamat. The holy Prophet is the universal da`i of the true religion (Islam) (33:46). The Imam (May peace be through him) of the time is the special representative for the sake of qiyamat (17:71) and the hudud-i din are the vanguard of the army of qiyamat.

Q730 Surah-yi Qamar (54:6) states: "On the day the summoner shall call them to a painful thing." Who is this summoner (da`i)? What is the 'painful thing'?
A730 This summoner (da`i) is Israfil. The painful thing is qiyamat, because people do not have either its knowledge or recognition.

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